


Cupid's Arrows

by Phoenixofslytherin



Series: Roll-A-Drabbles [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Blind Date, Competition, Contests, Cupid - Freeform, Drabble, Drabble that will be expanded!, Fun and Games, Marauders, Other, Party Games, Rated E for later chapters, There WILL be smut!, hopefully a bit funny, secret competition, tags will be added as needed!, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 02:14:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 13,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27417109
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoenixofslytherin/pseuds/Phoenixofslytherin
Summary: A Drabble Prompt that has gone a bit wild! Every year a games is played at Hogwarts. Cupid pairs up various random partners for a season of fun and games......
Relationships: Cho Chang/Seamus Finnigan, Daphne Greengrass/Harry Potter, Ginny Weasley/Blaise Zabini, Hannah Abbott/Gregory Goyle, Hermione Granger/Draco Malfoy/Theodore Nott, Lavender Brown/Dean Thomas, Luna Lovegood/Parvati Patil, Millicent Bulstrode/Ron Weasley, Neville Longbottom/Pansy Parkinson, Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Series: Roll-A-Drabbles [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2003116
Comments: 22
Kudos: 84
Collections: Draco's Drabbles





	1. Cupid Revealed!

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Draco's Den's Roll-a-drabble but will be expanded afterwards. My prompts were Theodore Nott and Cupid's Costume. 
> 
> Thank you as always to champagneandliterature for your alpha/beta work. it is much appreciated as always!
> 
> Also thank you to Jaime Alexandra for the prompt and for giving me permission to continue it! I hope you like it.

Hermione couldn’t help it, she clapped a hand over her mouth and laughed. For a moment she couldn’t speak, she just stared at Theo as he strode into the room dressed as cupid and took an elaborate bow. A one armed white satin toga hung artfully from his stocky, tattooed body, a pair of gold wings protruded from his back, and in his hand, he carried a golden bow, and a quiver full of arrows. 

Hermione wasn’t the only one laughing. Pansy was doubled over, shaking with silent mirth and Daphne and Ginny were both giggling behind their hands. “Come on now girls, you’ve got to admit, it suits me.”

“If anyone can pull it off it’s you,” Pansy grinned. 

Theo smirked, turning in a slow circle and lifting a hand to acknowledge the wolf whistles Draco and Blaise sent his way. “Gather round then ladies and gents, I have the power of the God of Love, and all that bollocks, behind me. I have within these very hands," he wiggled his fingers, "the power to pair you up for the Halloween Blind Date Contest.” He took the arrows out of the quiver and held it out. “If you are absolutely sure and committed to this event, please drop your name into this magical, uh, quiver thing.”

One by one everyone in the room dropped a piece of parchment with their name on into the quiver. Theo theatrically waved his wand and whispered a rather complicated incantation.

“Gather round boys and girls, here we have the name of our first contender…” Theo prodded his wand into the quiver and a scrap of parchment floated up. The parchment disappeared and a name hung in the air in what appeared to be neon writing. “Neville Longbottom. Where are you, Neville?” Blushing furiously Neville stumbled forwards, adjusting his pirate costume as Theo pulled out his partner's name. “Pansy Parkinson.” Pansy grinned, looking delighted as she shimmied across to Neville. Neville, it appeared, was completely thrown by her naughty witch’s costume and had no idea where to look.

Theo continued pulling names out of the quiver. With a cheeky grin, he paired up Harry Potter and Daphne Greengrass, Ginny Weasley and Blaise Zabini, Ron Weasley and Milicent Bulstrode, and then stared with a wide grin at the two remaining contenders. Hermione and Draco were glaring at each other from opposite sides of the room. 

Theo couldn't help but chuckle, he’d had no hand in this at all. Not even a helping nudge. This had been entirely decided by fate, but in his opinion, it was the perfect outcome. “Well, well well.” He smirked again, “Look at that. Who would believe it?”

Who would indeed? Hermione suppressed a roll of her eyes and tried to arrange her face into something friendlier than a scowl. “Granger,” Malfoy said, smiling rather disconcertingly in his vampire costume and drawing attention to his magically pointed teeth. “You're looking very beautiful tonight.”

“Thank you,” she said with a rather forced smile as he took his place beside her.

“What happens to you now then Theo?” Draco asked, “who’s your partner?” 

“I don’t have one. It’s my job to keep tabs on all of you and to direct the game. That’s why I get to wear these bad boys and you, Malfoy, are standing there dressed as a mere vampire.” Theo’s smirk was as wide as Hermione had ever seen it as he stroked his golden wings a little too lovingly. 

She wondered again how on earth she had let herself be talked into signing up for this, but she knew the answer. Ginny had been rather persuasive, and Hermione had given in, hoping to keep her best friend happy. She knew Ginny had signed up to the long-standing game played between Slytherin and Gryffindor hoping she would be paired with Blaise, and it looked like her wish had been granted. Hermione’s wish on the other hand…. 

“It hardly seems fair that you don’t have a partner though,” Pansy said, staring at Theo with a devious look on her face. “But oh dear, it looks like there is an odd number of us. Whatever could we do MIllie?”

Millicent grinned, “Well, if this happens in class, usually the leftover person joins an existing pair. Thereby making a trio.”

“Oh yes, or a triad.” Pansy smiled. “But, oh. Oh dear, Millie, I only know of one boy in here who’s bi like Theo. That’s a problem.”

Theo was staring at the two girls, his expression caught between exasperation and humor. “Oh,” he said sarcastically, “I wonder who that could possibly be?” He looked across the room and caught Draco’s eye. The blond was shaking his head and staring at Pansy with much the same expression as the one Theo wore. He chanced a glance at Hermione and saw her eyes shining wide with shock. Apparently, she hadn’t known that little sliver of information before now.

“What do you think, we can’t have you being all lonely now can we?” Pansy continued innocently, “And after all you’d be doing a good deed, you might be keeping them from murdering each other. I know it’s Halloween but we’re only meant to play with fake blood, not the real thing.”

Hermione closed her eyes and breathed deeply. The only rules to the game that she knew of were that each pairing contained one player from each opposing house and that the pair had never dated before. To the best of her knowledge, there were no rules about threesomes. Draco was watching her speculatively, as was Theo and she knew they were both waiting for her to back out. Well, what they didn’t know was that she played to win. She looked up and smiled. “Come and join us then. I’m in if you two are?”

Theo looked at her and Draco and nodded. “You're on Granger. Let the games begin.”

  
  



	2. Newcomers!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the second part of chapter one! I had to split the chapter in half to keep part one within the rules of the drabble prompt!! (thank you again Draco’s Den fb group for being so relaxed on the rules!) From now on chapters will be a bit longer and posted on Saturdays.

“What the hell?” Theo looked up at the hammering on the door, “I thought this room was secret?”

“It is!” Harry said, frowning in confusion, “Unless the person outside knows what it’s being used for, and wants to enter for that purpose.”

“Ah.” Theo strode to the door and pulled it open, his Cupid’s wings bouncing jauntily with every step. “Good evening ladies. Gents”

Seamus Finnigan blinked curiously on the other side of the threshold. Being enthusiastically confronted by a semi-naked Cupid was obviously a little more than he had bargained for this evening. There were a couple of rather feminine giggles too, and Hermione shifted to see who else was outside. She stifled a gasp of surprise. Seamus was standing in front of a small group of eighth years. Behind him were Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Cho Chang, Parvati Patil, Luna Lovegood, Hannah Abbott, and most surprisingly of all, Gregory Goyle.

Just to compound the strangeness of the situation, they were all dressed in full Halloween regalia.

Theo scratched his head making his dark hair stand up in a mess that could have rivaled Harry’s on a bad day. “Come in. Umm, do you all know what you're doing here?”

“Of course!” Dean grinned, “we’re a little late because we had to make sure there was an even number of us, which was fine until we found Greg loitering outside the door here. Then we needed another girl, so we found Hannah and roped her in too!”

Hannah blinked, looking a little bemused at everything that was going on. “Wait a sec,” Theo frowned, “This game is supposed to be Gryffindor vs Slytherin. You’re... wait, what house are you in?”

“Hufflepuff.” Hannah smiled sweetly, “and I thought this new eighth year was all about unity and building inter-house relationships?”

“I, umm, cannot argue with that. Wait though, there’s too many girls here now.” Theo eyed the newcomers suspiciously. 

“No there’s not,” Luna said, gazing innocently into his blue eyes.

“No, really, I can count and all…. Unless, oooh!” Theo’s eyes lit up and his grin grew wider, “Are you sure there isn’t?”

“Honestly, there’s the right number.” Seamus grinned. “Now, are you going to let us in to play or not?”

“Names then. Into the quiver…. whatsit thing.” Theo said with a grin as he passed out ready spelled parchment and quills, watching as everyone wrote their names down in the silence of the room and added them into the golden quiver. He prodded the contents once more with his wand and again, names rose into the air. 

Hannah raised her eyebrows once more in surprise as she was immediately paired with Gregory Goyle. Goyle smiled somewhat uncertainly as she went to join him. Cho paired with Seamus, Parvati’s name linked her with Luna, “See Theodore, I told you there was the right number of ladies present,” Luna said with a faint smile as Pavarti blushed deeply, amid a chorus of wolf whistles and claps from the boys. Hermione wondered if Pavarti had realized that she would be outing herself quite so publicly. From the look of sheer terror on her face as Luna serenely took her hand, it would appear not.

Finally Lavender and Dean stared at each other until Dean grinned, stuck his hand out, and smiled. “Come on then Lav, it looks like it’s you and me!”

Theo glanced around, clearly delighted at still being center stage and having his captive audience grow significantly. He took another elaborate bow and waved his wand yet again. Hermione rolled her eyes at his theatrics as there was a flash, a loud bang, and a puff of white smoke which faded to reveal two magical pieces of parchment floating in midair. 

“The rules, ladies, and gents. You each wear one of these.” He conjured a stash of badges in the shape of a thin golden arrow and placed them on the table behind him. “Keep it concealed though. If any of the teachers notice the pin or catch you playing the game you are instantly disqualified. The badge records your progress. At the end of each day, progress points are added here.” Theo indicated the leaderboard where each couple’s names glowed in neon writing, coloured according to their house allegiance. 

“Points accumulate throughout the game. Treating your partner well gains you points. Being a dick drops your points. Cheating on your partner disqualifies you. Each week has a theme, with optional games that can win you extra points. And the bottom couple is disqualified each week. The winning couple and house are announced after the New Years’ ball finishes. Any questions?” He looked around the room but nobody spoke. “This week’s theme is relationship chemistry and getting to know each other. You start scoring as soon as you put your pin in place- yes Hermione?”

“You said the winning house? That seems a little unfair on Hufflepuff.” Hannah giggled nervously beside Greg. “Ravenclaw too.”

“Last year those houses weren’t even in the game Granger. This year they have a fighting chance.” Hermione frowned and Draco sniggered beside her making her want to punch him again. She was seriously regretting her decision to take part in this stupid game. She sighed and adjusted her wig, suddenly dressing up as Belle from Beauty and the Beast seemed a ridiculous idea too. Ginny, it seemed, had a lot to answer for. 

Nobody else seemed to object to the unfair house representation in the slightest. She glanced around the room at her friends who were smiling and laughing with each other and their new partners. Then she turned back to see Draco watching her in amusement. “You’re looking put out Granger. Whatever could be wrong?”

She scowled even harder and Draco grinned as Theo hovered in front of them with two pins in his hand and a broad smile on his face. “Hello, my very favorite couple in the room. Shall I fix your pins for you both?” Draco chuckled as Theo purposely dropped one pin and bent to pick it up, bumping his wings into Draco as he turned. He laughed as his wing stroked up Draco’s thigh and caught in his Dracula cloak. “Whoops a daisy,” Theo smiled as he used the opportunity to brush a hand over Draco’s crotch as he pulled his wing free with a wink. Draco rolled his eyes as Theo magically fixed the pin to the inside of his robes and then moved to attach Hermione’s. “Draco’s not too bad when you get to know him, Granger. Give him a chance, you never know, you might find you quite like being sandwiched in between two fallen angels.” Theo grinned again at her sharp intake of breath and sauntered away, leaving her gazing open-mouthed after him.

“Ladies and Gentlemen.” Theo called loudly, “the game begins….. Now!!”

  
  
  



	3. Not At All What She Expected

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Helloooooo! Thank you so much for all the follows and comments, I’m so glad people are liking the start of this! So here is the next chapter, and I’m aiming to post every Saturday but I’ve just realised I have a huge deadline for something coming up, so if I’m a little late then please bear with me!
> 
> A mahoosive thank you goes to to champagneandliterature, she bete’d this in record time so I could get it up today, thank you, you are a superstar!

Hermione gave a little squeak of surprise as Harry and Daphne wandered over to join her and Draco. Harry was pulling a worn, tattered, and very familiar-looking piece of parchment out of his pocket, he tapped the Marauder’s map with his wand and muttered, “I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.” The map emerged on the page as it always did, but as well as the usual outline of Hogwarts and the hundreds of tiny labeled dots, a message appeared as well. 

Hermione’s jaw dropped as the writing gradually solidified. 

  
  


_ Messrs Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs would like to offer their sincerest congratulations on your decision to continue our rather epic Halloween contest. _

_ Mr. Moony would like to offer his congratulations on your decision to improve inter-house unity and relations. _

_ Mr. Padfoot would like to offer the following heartfelt advice. “Stick it to the Slytherins.”  _

_ Mr. Wormtail would like to offer his all-round support and encouragement. _

_ Mr. Prongs would like to acknowledge the very beautiful dress you’re blind date is wearing, Harry, and to tell you that he wholeheartedly approves of your pairing. _

  
  


Draco frowned, staring at the map in horror. “Uh, Potter, what the actual fuck?”

Harry grinned. “Oh, this is the map I told you about. As head of the Gryffindor team, I feel we should have a way of keeping our participants safe as they leave this room. It would never do for a teacher to spot them and let’s say, intervene in the game, would it now?”

“Potter, I am head of the Slytherin team and this,” he indicated the map, “stick it to the Slytherins? This is just plain rude. I feel your map is biased. Also, I don’t have a map. I hope you’re not intending to use this to get the upper hand for your team.”

Harry grinned. “So suspicious, Malfoy. And yeah, the map might well be biased. A little bit anyway. I’m not keeping it to myself though, we can all use it to get out of here safely. Look, Professor Sprout is patrolling along here.” Draco squinted at the map as Harry pointed to the tiny labeled dot bearing the name Pomona Sprout, and saw for himself that she was walking perilously close to the Room of Requirement.

“Fine,” Draco said crossly, obviously not catching onto anything else the map had revealed. Hermione turned to Harry wide-eyed as Daphne spoke to Draco and took his attention away. 

“Did you know  _ they _ invented this game?” she hissed, sounding thoroughly shocked and rather disapproving.

Harry shook his head. “Nope, I never had a clue. It doesn’t really surprise me though, does it you?”

“I am so going to have words with Sirius and Remus… it’s, it’s-”

“Exactly the sort of thing they would do!” Ron said, peering over Harry’s shoulder. “This is brilliant! Oh, bloody hell…. Harry, you don’t reckon, what if they invented this game, played it, and, and your Mum and Dad got paired up? What if that was when they got together? Sirius and Remus could have paired up for it too!”

Harry looked as if he had been hit over the head by a bludger. He blinked at Daphne who was still deep in conversation about fake blood and fangs with Draco and his eyes widened in shock. The blood was draining from his face as he swayed slightly on the spot. Sirius had always told him that his parents had gotten together during their eighth year at Hogwarts….

“Harry mate, can we go yet?” Theo asked, waving his hand in front of Harry’s glazed-over eyes. 

“Wha? Oh, uh-” he checked the map again, “Yes but turn left not right, and use the far stairs, not the first set.”

Theo turned to Hermione who was also still reeling from the map's revelations. “Would you care to accompany me, my lady?” He grinned at Draco, “you can come along too if you like, I’ve never adhered to the notion that three’s a crowd!”

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


Walking into the great hall dressed as a Disney Princess with Draco Malfoy on one arm and Theo Nott on the other was not the way Hermione had envisioned this Halloween evening playing out. She had passed her charmed arrow pin over the magical sensor and  been swept from the room before her brain had properly caught up with her feet. She hadn’t fully processed the fact that they were playing a Marauder’s game either, but now that she thought about it, it all made rather a lot of sense. 

Draco and Theo had chatted easily all the way down to the hall, and Hermione had been grateful for the chance to ponder her situation in silence. She was feeling very conflicted about the whole contest. She had agreed to join mostly to appease Ginny. Since splitting up with Harry, Ginny had spent an awful lot of time staring into space and fantasizing about Blaise Zabini, on whom she had developed a rather sudden and intense crush. For someone who hated to fly, Hermione was spending a lot of time on the quidditch pitch waiting for the Slytherin team to finish training. Ginny had heard about the competition in the Gryffindor common room and had sweet-talked Harry into letting her take part despite her being in the year below. 

Ginny had then turned her blue eyes pleadingly to Hermione, and Hermione had finally agreed to play without giving too much thought as to who she might be paired with. Hermione knew the game was firmly against school rules, and that as a prefect she should be reporting such goings-on rather than taking part in them. The mere idea of going against the teachers left her conflicted and now she had found out that the game had been invented partly by Sirius and Remus, she was even less convinced that she was doing the right thing by being involved. And, everyone else seemed to think that her drawn pairing was hilarious but she was… well, what was she?

She was cross, she realized. Cross and put out. How dare this stupid game pair her with her arch enemy and how dare Theo just waltz in and join them as if it was the most natural thing in the world? And how dare this whole bloody game be devised by Harry’s godfather and his best friends?!

“Granger?” Theo was waving at her again, “I thought you always paid attention? You’re like a space cadet tonight!”

“What?” she blinked, startled as Theo grinned. They had stopped in front of a table bearing pitchers of different colored fruit punches. “Blue, purple or red?”

“I’m sorry what?”

Draco huffed in exasperation. “Brightest witch of our age be dammed. Granger! Which color punch would you like?” 

“Oh! Purple please.” 

“Would you like a little... addition?” Draco pulled a small flask out of his Dracula robes and added a generous splash of amber liquid to his and Theo’s drinks. 

Hermione blinked again, “would you excuse me for a moment please?” she said, and without waiting for an answer she spun on her heel and stomped away, keen to leave the hall to have a moment by herself before she exploded in a fit of frustration. She didn’t get very far however before she felt the familiar pull of a slowing hex around her middle and she stopped,  closing her eyes, counting to ten, and praying for patience as she turned around to face Ron. “What?!” she snapped, glaring up at him with such ferocity that Millicent backed away.

Ron just grinned cheerfully in the face of her fury. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing.”

“‘Mione, in about twelve seconds time you’ll be stomping your feet in temper and my charms are not up to repairing snapped high heels. So, you can either storm off to the bathroom and get upset thereby causing a major scene, or you can tell me what’s wrong. I know you too well, you can't hide it from me.”

He passed her a glass of purple punch, knowing her preference without needing to ask, and she took it and sighed heavily. “Thank you. It’s,” she waved her arm in the general direction of the great hall and closed her eyes, breathing deeply through her nose and letting it out in a sigh. Ron’s easy familiarity was calming her. He was right, she couldn’t hide anything from him or Harry and this wasn’t worth having a complete meltdown over. She had faced worse and survived, after all.

“I doubt you’re offended by the entire hall so, I’ll hazard a guess. Is it being paired with Malfoy?” 

She nodded. “Yes! And the whole Marauders thing. And they just offered me firewhisky out of a flask. And I’m a prefect. And I’m sounding ridiculous now aren’t I?”

A braver man would have backed away, or placated her with a pat on the arm, her temper was legendary after all, but Ron simply grinned at her and fished a flask out of his pocket. “Yes. You are. Firewhisky?”

She stared at him for a long moment as Millicent shifted uneasily from foot to foot. Hermione closed her eyes and let out another long, troubled sigh. “That’s better,” Ron added a measure to her drink and she arranged her features into something resembling a smile. “Now, give me a hug because it’s really fun seeing Malfoy looking so irritated.” She laughed as she hugged him briefly and then let him go, feeling much happier than she had a few minutes previously. “Now. Before either of your new partners starts sending curses my way, bugger off back to them.”

Hermione glanced over to where she had left the boys. Both Draco and Theo were watching her. Theo looked amused but Draco looked, Merlin, he looked ready to lay Ron out. Millicent offered her a hesitant smile as Hermione looked back at her and Ron. “He’s not as bad as you think he is.” She touched Hermione’s arm and Hermione, remembering a rather painful headlock experience a few years prior tried very hard not to flinch. “The war changed a lot of people, give him a chance. And if he gets too cocky, you could always just punch him.”

That did it, Hermione laughed and squeezed Millicent’s hand. “Thank you. I needed to hear that.” 

Mentally pulling herself together again, she plastered a smile onto her face and rejoined them both. Theo put his bow and arrow down and held out a hand which she took, giggling as he brought it to his lips to kiss. Now that her temper had calmed she took a proper look at them both and her forced smile turned into a real, and rather appreciative one. Even though he seemed to be wearing a dress, Theo looked amazing. And he was probably one of the few people in the school who could pull this particular look off so confidently. 

Then there was Draco. Dressing as a vampire somehow enhanced his brooding good looks and added an extra element of intrigue to his already well-honed bad boy image. His hair was shining milky white under the multicolored lights, and his height and stature were nothing short of intimidating… unintentionally she took a rather large gulp of her drink and then locked eyes with him as she caught her bottom lip between her teeth. She blushed as he offered her the merest quirk of an eyebrow raise. “Would I not have been your first choice of partner for this event then Hermione?”

She sucked in a small breath at the way he said her name. They were on talking terms now, of course, all of the returning eighth years were. Draco had offered her a full and honest apology for the way he had treated her in her former years, and she had accepted it. That didn’t mean she liked him though, they had done no more than exchange pleasantries since the start of term so while his apology had been most welcome, her opinion of him had yet to change. “Would I have been yours?”

She expected him to answer awkwardly or to be noncommittal, she certainly wasn’t ready for him to look her directly in the eye and smile. “Yes,” he said. “There was no one else I would have wanted to partner with.”

“Oh!” she said, as Theo clutched his heart and pretended to faint in mock despair, “I see.”

“So,” Draco continued, his stormy grey eyes boring into hers as she stared, held captive and unable to look away, “If I would have chosen you, and you wouldn’t have chosen me, I suppose that leaves me with a job to do.”

“And what would that job that be?” Hermione asked as Theo smirked knowingly beside them.

“Making you change your mind.” She swallowed weakly and finished her drink, only for Theo to present her with a refill, this one with a measure of firewhisky strong enough to make her eyes water. 

As the evening progressed the three of them talked surprisingly easily. Theo proved to be the perfect buffer to any awkward moments that arose, and Hermione found that she was thoroughly enjoying the time she spent with the two of them. Two hours later she tried to put down her glass, feeling decidedly tipsy and wondering where the time had gone. “But you two, thank you, Theo,” he took the glass from her with a chuckle and put it on the table that she had missed, “I didn’t know about you two being..…” she gestured with her fingers, “do you? I mean, are you together?”

“When we feel like it.” Draco tilted his head to the side slightly, assessing her response. “But we’re not official. Or exclusive. You see,” he leaned forwards in his chair and picked up her hand, holding it in his and drawing little circles on her palm with his finger, “we both like girls too.”

“Oh.” The air in the room seemed to be disappearing. Had his eyes always been so dark? Had his voice always been so deep and seductive?”

“One girl, in particular, caught our eye,” Theo said from the side and Hermione turned, dragging her eyes away from Draco’s only to lose herself in Theo’s cerulean blue gaze. “A while ago actually.”

“Did she?” Her breathing was a little shaky as Theo nodded and Draco released her hand. She used it to run her fingers nervously through her hair, absently playing with a curl. 

“She did,” Theo confirmed. He looked down as his arrow badge glowed, “Excuse me a moment, it seems I have something to attend to. I’ll be right back.” 

“Dance?” Draco asked, offering his arm, and she accepted rather hesitantly, taking his hand and following him to the dance floor. Several other students were already dancing in couples, a few of whom Hermione recognized as new pairings from tonight's contest, and a mixture of students from the other years were dancing enthusiastically in big groups. Ginny flashed her a triumphant grin as she passed by wrapped up in Blaise’s arms, Parvati and Luna were giggling as Luna tried to teach Parvarti some new dance steps, Hannah was dancing contentedly with Greg, and Hermione smiled, pleased to see her friends looking happy. Maybe this mad contest wasn’t such a bad idea after all. 

Draco took both of her hands and guided them into the right position as she broke out of her daydream. He took the lead, waltzing her competently around the floor. He had obviously had dance lessons, although that was no great surprise given his upbringing, but he somehow managed to make her feel as if she knew what she was doing with classical dancing too. Despite her lack of sobriety she only stepped on his toes twice, and both times he just smiled instead of making the cutting remark she had been expecting. Maybe he had changed. When the music changed to a slower number he gave up the formal dancing and pulled her closer into his arms. “Is this alright Hermione or am I overstepping?”

His voice was a low purr in her ear and an hour or so ago she would have felt decidedly uncomfortable with that. Now though, and she wasn't sure if she had just relaxed in his company or had consumed too much of the firewhisky spiked punch, but now it was most definitely okay. Especially when… oh Gods…. especially when Theo stepped up behind her, sandwiching her firmly between the pair of them as he had promised to do earlier. “It’s fine,” she breathed, feeling a sudden pull of arousal that threatened to make her knees give way, “You’re not overstepping.”

“See,” Theo’s hands were on her waist as he pulled her gently back into him. “I said you might like this didn’t I?” Speechlessly Hermione nodded, a tiny whimper catching at the back of her throat as Theo pressed her forwards into Draco again, and both of them ground  against her at the same time, then pulled back slightly, leaving her panting and suddenly bereft. 

Theo chuckled at her affected look. “You. Are. Beautiful. But, I’m told I can be pushy so if this is too much for you then tell me and I’ll back it up a bit.”

“Umm, no, actually. That was just fine. Don’t.”

“Don’t what?”

“Don’t back up.”

“What about me?” Draco spun her around gently to face the other way, bumped his very obvious arousal into her bottom then turned her to face him once more. “Do I need to back up or am I fine too?” 

“You’re fine too.” Merlin, what on earth was she saying tonight? Draco smiled, not that infuriating smirk but a real smile, and lowered his head, gazing into her eyes as he brought his lips closer and closer to her own. She lifted her chin and his lips brushed hers, gently, delicately, and then firmly as he pulled her into him. He moved his hands from her hips up to her face, cupping her jaw and sliding around to sink his fingers gently into her hair. She outright whimpered at that, pushing forwards into him and lifting her own hands to circle them around his neck. When they finally pulled apart he looked just as shell shocked as she felt. Theo had stepped back and was watching them with a soft smile and he reached for her hand as she ran her other fingers over her kiss swollen lips, still tasting Draco there.

“So, is this it then?” she asked, “You two and me, we’re doing this contest as a threesome?”

“Triad.” Theo corrected. 

“Triad.” She mirrored weakly as the need to test them both formed in her mind. “Well, shouldn’t we all have a first kiss then? That means you two as well?” She still couldn't quite believe that they were together, for some reason her brain was struggling to come to terms with the idea. It wasn’t that she had a problem with two men in a physical relationship because she most certainly didn’t. She practically lived with Sirius and Remus for Merlin’s sake, and they were openly affectionate with each other, but something inside her just couldn’t compute the idea of Draco and Theo together. She needed proof that this wasn’t some kind of elaborate trick that they were playing on her. 

“You're forgetting something, beautiful,” Draco said quietly. “It won’t be mine and Theo’s first kiss will it? We’ve kissed, and done a whole lot more than that before now. Many times.”

“Not in front of me you haven’t.”

They looked at each other, clearly amused at her bravado. “She’s got a point,” Theo’s grin was wicked as he smoothly pinned her back in between them both. Wondering what he  was going to do she gasped as he reached for Draco and the pair of them came together to kiss over her shoulder. They moved closer simultaneously and she struggled to breathe as pure unadulterated desire flooded her with white hot heat. 

They kissed as if they knew each other well, Theo was in charge and Draco knew it. Their mouths were slightly open, showing her every last detail as they tasted each other and melded their tongues together, the obvious affection between them easy and natural. She could feel they were both affected, Draco’s rock hard erection pushed into her stomach and Theo’s bumped against her back. When they finally pulled apart Theo turned to her and she gasped as he immediately captured her lips, pulling her into him and demanding her submission, just as she had watched him do to Draco. She happily let him claim her, wondering how she would manage to stay standing when they both let her go. Draco bent his head and kissed her neck, nipping with his teeth and flicking his tongue over the same spot to ease the sting. Hermione gasped, the feeling of them both kissing her at the same time was overwhelming, and she was very glad indeed that they were in such a dark secluded corner. 

When they finally pulled away she was panting and unsteady on her feet. “How was that then Granger?” Theo asked with a cheeky grin, “are you still regretting your pairings?”

I think,” she said, carefully, her head still swimming, “I think I’ve changed my mind. I seem to be quite happy with the choice now.”

  
  



	4. The Morning After the Night Before

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is a bit late....!! I'm aiming for Saturday updates but there is quite a lot going on at the moment so I might need to alter that to Saturday-ish updates!!
> 
> I'm loving the responses this story is getting so far, please feel free to leave a little comment or review if you're liking what you're reading.
> 
> Thank you as always to champagneandliterature for the amazing alpha and beta work, I have so much love and appreciation for that, because without it there simply wouldn't be a story!

“Remus!” Hermione called as she stepped out of the floo in Grimmauld Place, “oh! You’re both here already!” She straightened up, glaring at Harry and Ron as she brushed the soot off of her clothes, wincing as her pounding head protested at the sudden movements and her stomach lurched horribly from the spinning of the floo. 

“Steady there Kitten,” Sirius grinned as he jumped up to greet her. He stopped and squinted at her, “Are you alright, you look a bit pale.”

“She’s hungover.” Harry fixed her with a knowing grin. “That’s my guess anyway.”

“Ah.” Sirius nodded wisely. Then he frowned, “I thought Hermione didn’t drink?”

“I don’t.” She took a deep breath and sat down rather heavily in the nearest chair. “Usually.”

“And therein lies the problem apparently.” Sirius opened a cupboard and fished out a vial of potion. “Good night, was it?” Hermione blushed, wondering how much Ron and Harry had already said. “Take this.”

“What is it?” she stared suspiciously at the innocent looking vial. 

“Morning,” Remus smiled as he apparated into the kitchen. “Nice to see you all. I’ve just dropped Teddy at Dromeda’s for the weekend. What’s wrong Hermione?”

“This is all your fault,” she said ferociously, pointing at Remus and then Sirius. “Both of you.”

“Really?” Sirius looked skeptical as he laughed and pushed the vial into her hands, “Drink it, Kitten. You’ll feel better.” 

“And I asked you what it is, if you think I’m just going to-”

“That’s hangover potion. Have you not taken it before?” Remus smiled kindly, taking the vial out of Sirius’ hand and uncorking it for her as she shook her head. “It tastes cool and minty, and It will help if you’re feeling a bit worse for wear.”

“Well why didn’t you say so?” she glared at Sirius who was still laughing at her hysterics. He pushed his hair out of his eyes and put a pan on the stove, then started to add bacon while Ron got the bread out and Remus put the kettle on. Hermione sniffed the vial carefully and noticed the two empty ones already on the table. “Have you taken this already?” she asked Harry,

“Yes, come on ‘Mione, it will honestly help. How much did you have last night?” 

“I don’t know. She admitted, trying to remember. “A few. But Theo’s measures were quite generous and I don’t normally-”

“Drink.” Sirius finished for her, practically stuffing the vial into her mouth as Remus put a cup of strong coffee in front of her. She winced as she swallowed the potion and almost immediately began to feel better.

Sirius put the empty vial with the others on the table and fixed his grey eyes on her. “So, what exactly is our fault, Kitten? Please enlighten me, if I’m being blamed for something I’d love to know what I’ve done.”

“I would imagine Harry’s told you about the game?” 

Sirius smiled. “Ah yes. He has mentioned it. I’m glad it's still going strong. And since you're here, why don't you tell us who your partner is?” 

She was surprised the boys hadn’t already filled him in, but it would appear they’d kept quiet. Sirius’s eyes grew huge as she confessed. Remus turned away from the stove in concern, “I didn’t realize the game allowed triads.”

Sirius shrugged, “No reason it shouldn’t is there Moony? We made it fairly broadminded after all.”

“Yes.” Remus smiled, “I suppose we did, but Hermione, I’d be a little concerned about you being partnered with either of those two, but especially with the pair of them together. How are they treating you?” 

She couldn’t help it, the blush bloomed brightly across her cheeks, down her neck, and across her chest. Harry gasped, “You didn’t?”

“No!” she snapped, “of course not!” Sirius was watching her with a broad grin as he passed Remus some eggs. Remus took the eggs then batted his hands away, clearly knowing better than to let Sirius be involved in any cooking. “We, umm, might have kissed.”

“Why are you blushing so hard if all you did was kiss? And, more to the point which one did you kiss?” Ron turned away from the toaster as the floo roared into life and discharged Ginny into the kitchen. She held up a hand at their greetings, marched straight to the cupboard, downed a hangover potion, and flopped dramatically into a chair at the table. “Oh Gods,” Ron turned away, making a disgusted face at the sight of the purple love-bite on  his sister’s neck. “Glamour that and tell him you bruise easily, I can’t look at my baby sister with that monstrosity-”

Ginny frowned, and following Ron’s gaze ran her fingers over her neck and winced. “Oh!” 

“Good morning, Red.” Sirius smiled as he handed her a mug of coffee and Remus added more bacon to the pan. “Is anyone else coming or are we done?”

“Neville might, but I think that’s it.” Ginny sighed dramatically as she leaned forwards in her chair. “Right. Miss G, spill the beans. I saw you three kissing in the corner last night, what the hell happened after  _ that _ ?” 

Hermione sipped her coffee as yet again the floo roared and Neville stepped out, causing Sirius to mutter about collecting waifs and strays and needing to start charging for cooked breakfasts. “Nothing much,” Hermione turned to Ginny hoping for a private conversation but realizing that every ear in the room was trained on her.

“Nothing much?!” Ginny shrieked, “I saw you wedged between the second two hottest boys in school and then snogging both of them. ‘Mione, I nearly combusted just watching. You can’t tell me nothing happened after that?!”

Hermione grimaced, “Why are they only the second hottest boys?” she asked with a grin, “I take it you think you got the hottest one then?”

“No question!” Ginny grinned like the cat that had stolen the cream, “four A.M. I got back to Gryffindor Tower, and I could hardly walk when I got up-”

Both Harry and Ron stuck their fingers in their ears, Neville gave a horrified yelp and Ron started humming loudly. “Sounds like an excellent night.” Sirius started handing out plates of bacon and scrambled eggs on toast. Hermione clapped her hand over her mouth and giggled. “Here,” Sirius threw Ginny a tub of cream, “Your brother’s going to turn green in a moment. “Cover that damn bruise, you can wash the cream off later if you want to keep the mark.” 

Hermione gulped at the look he exchanged with Remus as he said that. Ginny turned a wicked smile on him, “Speaking from experience are you?” 

“Of course,” Sirius said without a trace of embarrassment as he put her breakfast in front of her. “What's the first week’s theme then?” 

“As if you didn’t know!” Harry said around a mouthful of toast, “it’s relationship building and chemistry.”

Remus nodded, “And how are all of yours?”

“Amazing!” Ginny answered first,

“Surprisingly good.” Hermione smiled,

“Awful,” Neville admitted, 

“Not so great,” Harry agreed,

“Good. Actually.” Ron finally removed his fingers from his ears and chanced a look at Ginny now that Hermione had finished applying the cream to the offending area. 

“Harry and I want to switch partners,” Neville said. “We spent the night as a foursome, and the pairings are most definitely round the wrong way.”

“How very annoying.” Remus nodded, trying to hide his amusement. 

“Do we uh, get any leeway to switch?” Harry asked hopefully. 

“Nope. Cupid pairs you up and that’s it I’m afraid. I would know, I was the original Cupid.”

“Of course you were.” Hermione laughed. Sirius and Theo, she decided, were cut from the same cloth. She could just see Sirius wearing that ridiculous costume and pulling it off with as much style as Theo had managed last night. 

“Although,” Remus turned, gesturing with the spatula as he fixed Harry and Neville with his twinkling eyes, “There’s always fetish week if you get that far of course. You could say your fetish was partner swapping,”

Harry and Neville looked a little uncomfortably at each other and Ginny burst out laughing, “These two?! Fetish week?! Ahem. Sorry.” She said, feigning contrition as she filled her mouth with bacon and continued to smirk.

“I think we’ll be out by then,” Harry said, “we're joint bottom of the leaderboard as it is.”

“Who’s top?” Hermione couldn’t help but ask, 

Ron sighed in a long-suffering way. “That would be Gin and Blaise. Tied with Luna and Parvarti. Your third ‘Mione. Mind You I’m fifth, surprisingly enough. But it's very early on so there’s plenty of time for it all to change..”

  
  
  


* * *

And indeed there was. Hermione floo’d back into Hogwarts a couple of hours later feeling decidedly less hungover but still a little unsettled. The eighth year common room was  almost empty. She looked past Hannah who was studying at a table with Luna and the Patil twins, and into a pair of startling grey eyes. Draco was sitting at a table on his own, his study notes piled neatly beside him as he paused in writing his essay. His smile was slow as he took her in, but it was genuine, without any hint of a smirk and, Merlin help her, it suited him. “Hey,” he said lightly, and she couldn’t help but smile back despite another rather obvious blush. “I was getting a bit concerned about you,” he said, inviting her to sit with him, “No one had seen you since last night, I was rather hoping we didn’t scare you off?”

“No,” she laughed, “Nothing like that, although I admit I was feeling a little poorly this morning. I went to Grimmau- Harry’s Godfather’s house for breakfast.” She glanced at the clock, “or lunch, whichever meal that counted as.” Draco nodded as he ran his fingers through his hair. He was fresh from the shower and he smelled clean, of pine needles, spearmint, and just a hint of citrus. She breathed in as she sat, trying not to be too obvious about ogling him. His clothing didn’t help, muggle jeans and a simple black hoodie, how had she never noticed how attractive he was in the past? 

“Are you feeling better now?”

Her mouth was dry as she stared at him, trying to jog her brain out of its blinding attraction and make sense of his words. “Yes thank you. Much.”

He smiled, “Theo is known for being rather heavy-handed with the drinks. You’ll get used to it. And if you don’t I can brew a good hangover cure.” She caught her bottom lip between her teeth and smiled, he sounded awfully confident, but then he always was, wasn’t he? His eyes were darkening as they lingered on her mouth. “Harry’s Godfather Sirius Black?” Hermione nodded as Draco put his quill down and leaned back in his chair. “What I’ve gathered from Neville Longbottom, of all people, is that Black had something to do with making this game and that infernal map last night. Is that right?”

Hermione nodded and gave him a brief rundown of the basics. This time he did smirk, managing to combine it with a raised brow that made him look highly amused, “well the family connection’s clearly not giving Potter an edge, he’s bottom of the leaderboard. He and Daph are not a good match apparently.”

“No.” Hermione agreed, looking up as the others returned from Grimmauld and stepped into the common room. The noise level increased significantly as the main door also opened and a few more people trooped back inside. 

Draco snapped his book shut and smiled brightly at her. “We, on the other hand, are doing very well indeed. Fancy going for a walk into Hogsmeade?”

Hermione stared at him trying to read his intentions. She was still wary of him and his motives, despite their high ranking on the leaderboard, but he seemed genuinely interested in spending time with her. Whether that was purely because of the game or not she wasn’t sure and she supposed that at this stage it didn’t really matter. She nodded. “Alright, should we invite Theo too? In fact, where is he?”

“Library I believe. We could pick him up on the way, go grab a coat and meet me back here in five.” Hermione nodded and hurried off to find some warmer clothes with butterflies in her tummy and a secret smile on her lips. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  


It turned out that the fresh air was exactly what she needed to blow away the last remnants of her hangover. She tipped her face up to the sky, enjoying the late autumn sunshine. Gusts of wind blew flurries of leaves from the trees and they danced on the breeze as they fell and then raced along the ground as if chasing each other for fun. Hermione spun around watching more blow down through the trees. “What are you thinking?” Theo asked, pulling his coat closed and watching her with a soft smile.

“Just how very different things are now compared with two years ago,” she said with a grimace. 

“Ah. Yes. Just a bit.” Theo agreed, turning with her to watch the leaves. Two years ago Hermione had been hiding out with Harry and Ron, trying to figure out how to defeat Voldemort, and Theo and Draco, well she knew it hadn’t been a happy time for them either. 

Following the Battle of Hogwarts, the school had closed for a year so that the teachers could focus on rebuilding the castle, filling the empty teaching posts, and building a new and modernized curriculum. The sabbatical year had also given those who were injured or traumatized time to heal and get the treatment they needed.  The enforced and subsequently delayed eighth year had seemed rather restrictive when it was first announced, especially given their current age and the life experiences they had all gained, but Minerva McGonagall had held firm. The returning students would be given extra privileges and age related concessions, but education was important. Nobody had achieved NEWT results that reflected their true abilities, and the new headmistress refused to see their lives or potential careers curtailed any more than was absolutely necessary. 

“Are you two planning on walking backwards all the way to Hogsmeade?” Draco asked in amusement. 

“Nope.” Theo scooped up a handful of leaves and scattered them all over Draco, “I’m planning on doing this instead!” Draco growled, low in his throat, and stooped to grab a handful of his own in retaliation. Hermione shrieked as the wind caught the pile and it scattered and covered them all. She tried to glare at Draco but his cheeky wink seemed so out of character that it caused her to laugh instead. She ran her fingers through her curls trying to shake the leaves out. Was he always like this now he was free of Voldemort’s shadow? she wondered, because if so, it suited him. 

When they finally reached Hogsmeade Hermione suppressed a shiver. It wasn’t that she had been avoiding the town exactly, just that the last time she had been here it had looked very different to the way it did now. Her last visit had been with Harry and Ron, and it had been the night they’d set off the caterwauling charm that had led to them diving into the Hog’s Head, and then going down the tunnel into Hogwarts, and the entire chain of events that had followed…. 

She snapped back to reality as Theo pulled them both along the street and into the crowded heat of Zonko’s joke shop. “I need some supplies for next weekend,” he said rather mysteriously as Draco nodded and steered Hermione back towards the front door looking distinctly uncomfortable. 

“Meet you back outside,” he said as he and Theo exchanged a look that seemed to convey an entire private conversation that obviously made sense to them, but left her blinking in confusion. 

“What’s wrong?” Hermione asked as Draco’s whole demeanor changed and he stepped outside looking shaken and drawn, all trace of his earlier playfulness gone and the sullen, moody look he had worn throughout their school days back in place. 

He took a couple of deep breaths and pinched the bridge of his nose. “The shopkeeper knows me,” he said vaguely and Hermione frowned in confusion. 

“He knows me too,” she said. It was mostly true, they weren’t on first name terms but they certainly knew each other by sight.

“Yes Granger, that’s the problem. Everyone knows you. And I mean this in the nicest possible way, they know you as one of the good people. One-third of the golden trio, the golden girl. You being seen out with me or Theo is going to do you no favors at all. I should have thought this through more.”

She goggled at him for a moment, then realized that he was serious. “You, you're worried about my-? What, my image? my reputation? Good grief!”

“Don’t play dumb Hermione it doesn’t suit you.” His eyes were narrow and his voice was cold once more. She shivered, not liking this new self-deprecating tone at all. “They know you, they know me. We both have a reputation as they say. I don’t want to tarnish yours with mine.”

She huffed. Clearly, Draco didn’t understand her particularly well yet. She didn’t know whether to be flattered by his worry and care, sad that he still felt he was being judged for crimes that were not altogether his fault, or furious that he thought she would be swayed by public opinion. “Draco, I don’t care who I’m seen with if I choose to spend time with you, or Theo, or whoever, that’s my choice and other people can go to hell with their judgemental-”

“Yes, yes.” He cut off her furious tirade, “all very admirable sentiments but you're a bright girl Granger, you know people will talk. I didn’t think it through when I invited you down here. I don’t want to make life difficult for you.”

“Oh, because my life has been so easy so far you mean?” She couldn’t help the corners of her mouth tugging up into a smirk that almost, almost could have matched one of his own. Feeling slightly reckless and spurred on by his sudden show of altruism she noticed a large group of students walking down the hill. Sizing him up she narrowed her eyes. “Can I kiss you?”

“What?” he looked amazed, “Of course you fucking can you mad-” she silenced him by stretching up on tiptoes and locking her lips to his. Their first kiss may have only happened last night but it appeared that she had already forgotten how good he tasted and how perfectly his lips fitted against hers because the next second she was pressing closer to him and whimpering into his mouth in an entirely unexpected way. 

He responded with a low, feral noise, spun her around, and backed her up against the shop wall. He nudged his thigh between her legs and brought it up to press against her core and she gasped, the passion burning blindingly and coming from absolutely nowhere. A chorus of wolf whistles split the quiet afternoon and she pulled back, giving him a wink. “There. There were going to be rumors anyway, this gets it all out in the open and it will be over and done with sooner. And, just in case you thought I wasn’t happy to be seen with you in public, I hope I’ve proved my point.” 

“You certainly did that!” Theo grinned, letting the shop door close with a tinkle, “All I want to know is where’s my kiss? I’m a bit worried about being seen in public too. I’m very shy and-” 

“Shy?” she stared at him in amusement and he grinned. “What did you buy?” she asked, looking curiously at the bulging bag.

“Supplies for next week’s theme.” He twitched the bag away as she made to peek inside. “Uh-huh, top secret I'm afraid.”

Draco sighed dramatically and Hermione paused as they passed the Three Broomsticks, “seriously, what’s the point of shagging cupid if we don’t get any inside intel?” he asked with a wink and Hermione laughed, glad to see him cheering up again. 

“I thought you said we were going in here?” 

Theo shook his head, “We said the pub. We didn't specify which one. Draco’s banned from this one.”

“Wh- Oh.” Hermione nodded. “Rosmerta?”

Draco nodded with a wry smile, “Yeah. She took it a bit personally that I had her under the imperius curse for six months. I’d probably be pissed off too to be fair.” 

They carried on around the corner and into the Hog’s Head. Aberforth Dumbledore greeted her with a rough nod, said nothing at all to Theo, and glared heatedly at Draco, who smiled arrogantly back. Aberforth went away shaking his head as Hermione called their order after him. She was starting to see what Draco meant about the pair of them raising eyebrows by being out together. Nobody seemed to notice or object to Theo, but, she supposed, Draco and herself were the more famous ones. Unless someone knew Theo personally they would have no idea about his shady family connections. Aberforth returned minutes later and slammed three butterbeers on the table, then added three smudged and dirty looking glasses. “Thank you.” Hermione gave him a tight-lipped smile. Just as he was walking away he paused then spun around. 

“I saw you, laddie,” he spoke to Draco who clearly had no idea who he was. Draco raised an insolent brow as Aberforth regarded him with those twinkling blue eyes. “I saw what you did at the end of the battle. I saw you tend the injured and the dying.” He leaned closer to Draco who now blinked in shock, “I saw you. So don’t go giving me that arrogant I don’t give a toss attitude, I know you care. And, I know you never wanted to kill my brother. Welcome to my pub.” And after dropping his bombshell he walked away, wiping his grubby hands on an even filthier towel that was tucked into the waistband of his robes. 

  
  
  


* * *

  
  
  


“Wow” Hermione gasped when they got back to the common room that evening. “How did we get to the top of the leaderboard?” 

“We were wondering the same thing?!” Ginny sounded miffed as she looked up from the sofa where she was doing last-minute homework next to Blaise, “we thought we were top!”

“Sorry Zabini,” Theo grinned, “We spent the afternoon talking and building relationships, it's not just about shagging you know.”

Blaise looked up from his arithmancy book, adjusted his position nonchalantly, and grinned. “Jealous are we Theodore? Two partners and yet you're still not getting any?”

Theo just grinned back, “whatever you say, mate, I think the leaderboard speaks for itself, but,” he fixed Blaise with his brilliant blue eyes, “If you want a battle for the top spot, I say bring it the fuck on.” 


	5. Intimate Confessions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can I just sneak this chapter in and run away so that nobody notices how late it is please…..?!! I’m sooooooo sorry, I knew life was going to be a little bit hectic over the last couple of weeks but I wasn’t really expecting it to be quite so mad! 
> 
> Anyway things have settled down a little now…. Thank goodness!! And I’m back writing this story again. Updates should, after this rather random one, go back to Saturdays. So, if you’re all still there, thank you for reading and thank you for the reviews and comments, they really do make me smile and inspire me to write, particularly if its a choice between writing and sleeping!!
> 
> Many many many thanks to champagneandliterature, my wonderful alpha/beta without whom this story wouldn’t be happening!

The week following Hermione, Draco, and Theo’s Hogsmeade date passed relatively uneventfully. The Hogwarts professors kept them so busy and their workload was so heavy that they barely had a chance to do anything more than attend lessons, study and complete homework, then fall into bed exhausted every evening. On top of all the regular coursework Hermione had her prefect duties as well, and this week seemed to have been particularly irksome in that respect. Professor McGonagall, flushed with the success of the Halloween ball, had decided to hold a New Year’s Eve gala, instead of the usual end of year feast and unofficial common room parties that always took place. This year they were to have another grand, large scale event which she wanted the prefects to organise. 

Hermione returned from the first planning meeting rather late on Wednesday evening to find the eighth year common room abuzz with activity. She sighed wearily, her head was spinning with all the new gala details and she wasn’t in the mood for any more excitement. “Where are they? Have you seen them? What’s going on?” various people shot questions at her as soon as the door closed behind her.

“Who?” she tried not to snap, but she really was tired out. “Harry and Neville!” Ron said, pointing to the game leaderboard that was propped up in the corner of the room. Hermione blinked in surprise. The board was going haywire, a bright red and green neon tube light was flashing the word disqualified over and over again and Harry, Neville, Pansy and Daphne’s names had disappeared from the board entirely. “I’ve no idea!” she stopped and stared around the room in confusion. 

“Harry said they were going to do it though,” Ron said, a hint of pride in his eyes, “all four of them said the pairings were the wrong way round, but you know what this must mean?”

“What?” Millicent asked from beside him, looking up from her own essay and staring at him rather adoringly with her big doe eyes.

“It means they swapped. Finally one of them has had a proper kiss.” There was a chorus of oooooh’s and ahhhh’s and Hermione rolled her eyes. Her head was starting to throb with a tension headache and she was feeling more and more antisocial by the moment. She dropped her things onto the table next to Ron with a clatter and made her way through to the dorms, sinking down onto her bed for a moment then deciding to have a bath. The thought of Harry and Pansy together was really taking a little getting used to, although she supposed that was rather hypocritical of her given her own current relationship status. As she got her things ready there was a soft knock on the door, and she opened it rather harshly to find Theo smiling down at her.

“Good evening,” he said, faltering slightly at her harassed look and rather abrupt greeting. “Ron said you were in here, he also said it was best to leave you alone as you were tired and I was likely to get hexed if I disturbed you.”

She smiled despite her bad mood. He was looking at her with a grin that was both hopeful and rather cheeky, and as he stood ruffling the back of his hair with his hand, she was suddenly struck again by how good looking he was. She couldn’t help but smile back. “And yet, you took the chance anyway.”

He grinned. “I’d like to say that I’m a braver man than Weasley, but our track records would disagree, so I’ll just say that I fancy my chances. Also, if I’m wrong I can run quite fast-” he grinned. “Can I come in?”

Her face morphed into a look of surprise, “This is a girls room!” He looked at her as if not understanding her point. “Ummm, yes I suppose so then.” Disconcerted, she stepped back and he followed her inside. 

“It’s nice in here.” He looked around and grinned. “Have you seen the board?” she nodded, still wondering what he was up to and if it would be incredibly rude to throw him out and get her bath in before it was too late.

“I have. What happened, and where’s Draco?”

“Quidditch training, and Potter and Pansy snogged.” 

Despite her bad mood Hermione’s jaw fell open in surprise. “How do you know that?!”

Theo winked. “Cupid gets inside information, remember? Also, Pansy just came back and told us. It was in the back of the library of all places too, she cornered him in the Defense against the Dark Arts section, and asked if he’d show her his Patronus. Well he showed her something alright and it disqualified both pairs!” Theo crossed the room and stared at the row of three four poster beds. “Which one’s yours?”

“That one.” She pointed, “but I was just going to-”

“Have a bath. So I see,” he indicated the towel and shower gel in her hand. “Ron also said you were rather stressed because you’ve been working too hard lately. I came to see if you wanted a massage?”

She stopped and stared at him in surprise. “Ron always thinks I work too hard, I suppose that’s what comes of him doing the opposite.” she frowned as Theo laughed. “What?”

“He also said you’d say something along those lines. He told me to inform you that his Charms and DADA essays are both finished, and that he didn’t copy Milli’s. And that is the extent of my message carrying, I am not an owl.”

Hermione laughed at his affronted look. “You and Ron seem to be talking quite a lot at the moment,” she said, trying to keep the suspicion from her voice as Theo sat down on her bed and kicked his shoes off. 

“Is there any reason we shouldn't?” She shook her head as he ran his fingers through his untidy hair, grinned and patted the bed beside him. “I can be nice to people you know, even Ron Weasley. Now, massage, yes or no?”

“I don't know.” She sighed, torn between what seemed like a rather tempting offer and the thought of sinking into the bubble filled bliss of the Prefect's bath.

Theo rolled his eyes. “My father always says if you offer a witch two choices they’ll take the third. I guess he had to be right about some things.”

“Isn’t your father in Azkaban right now?” She frowned at the way that had sounded, she hadn’t meant it to sound so bitter. “Oh, I didn’t mean that how it-”

Theo nodded and waved his hand dismissively. “No offence taken but, yes he’s in the cell next to Lucius, opposite Greg’s father in fact. I bet they all have a lovely chat in the mornings over their porridge. Now tell me Hermione,” he wiggled a bottle of massage oil in her direction, “Why are you being so indecisive? It’s not code for me trying to shag your brains out, I’ll even stay on top of your clothes if you prefer.”

She looked at him in surprise and considered his offer. “Okay, I’m convinced.” She didn’t want to tell him that she really did have a thumping headache and had been set on the bath idea. 

Her brain was also too scrambled to explain that the only person who had ever touched her intimately was Ron, and even that had stopped at a little bit of light petting. Other than that, a couple of innocent kisses with Victor Krum and what she had already experienced with Theo and Draco, she had no experience at all of what they were getting into here. It was very daunting to suddenly find herself in a relationship with two men, when she barely had experience of being with one man. Also, assuming the Hogwarts rumour mill was to be believed, Theo and Draco both had a lot of experience in that area. Although she  had signed up to play this blasted game she wasn’t sure she- Theo winced and held up a hand stopping her rather wild and jumbled train of thought in its tracks. 

“Just so you know, I’m what they call a psychic legilimens. It means that if you shout your thoughts that loudly I can hear every single one of them. Draco can choose whether to listen to what someone projects or not, I can’t. I’m shit at occlumency. Sorry.”

“So you know what I was just thinkin- oh Merlin!” she covered her face with her hands and sighed. 

“Umm yes. But, here's the thing. Neither of us knew you felt that way, so we will be much more respectful of your limits from now on. I apologise for coming on a little strong, when you grabbed Draco and snogged his brains out in Hogsmeade we figured you were- never mind. I can be a gentleman when I put my mind to it.” He smiled softly and gestured to the bed beside her again. “I’ll ask you one more time, Would you like a massage?”

She sighed again. “Yes, please. That sounds lovely.” She crossed to the bed and sat down feeling relieved. 

“It's better if you lay down, but only if you're comfortable with that.” She nodded and settled herself on the bed, letting him nudge her into position. His touch was heavenly. She was surprised to find herself relaxing as he laid his warm hands on top of her t-shirt and started to move them over her tense shoulders and back. “How’s this?” he asked as he started to smooth away the tension of the day.

“Its, it's lovely actually.” She smiled into the pillow and closed her eyes. She hadn't known it, but this had been exactly what she had needed. 

“Then relax and let me get rid of these knots.” He probed a little deeper with his thumbs and she groaned into the mattress. “Fuck,” Theo muttered, pausing for a moment to gather his composure and continue. “You can’t be making noises like that love, I’m trying to prove that I can behave myself here.”

“Sorry.” She stifled another sigh as he released a particularly uncomfortable spot and she felt herself melting under his skillful fingers. He muttered a wandless spell and the drapes around her bed closed snugly shut. “Can I ask you a question?”

“Of course.” He slid his hands lower, starting to work on the muscles in her lower back.

“How long have you and Draco been together?”

“Well we haven’t been in a relationship ever, until now. We’ve played around since third year though.” 

“Third year?!” she asked with a yelp, “Thats, we were-”

“Fourteen.” Theo answered. 

“Was he your first kiss then?”

“No. That was Daphne.” 

“When was that?”

“About five minutes before Draco stuck his tongue in my mouth. It was an eventful evening.”

“It sounds like it!” Hermione laughed, feeling the last of her tension slip away. Theo’s fingers really were amazing. 

“Daph and I kissed to find out what it was like. We were in the quidditch changing rooms after a match one day, we didn’t hear him come in, and he didn’t know we were there. Daph squealed and ran out,” Theo laughed, “and Draco said we looked as if we didn't have a clue what we were doing. I challenged him to do better, and well lets just say he did. Poor Daph, it was her first kiss too. We’re both much better at it now, just in case you were worried.”

Hermione laughed. “I had no complaints on Friday evening.” She paused and shivered at the memory, and then blushed because she knew Theo would have felt her physical reaction. “So are you just doing this, umm, relationship attempt purely because of the game?” Theo was silent for a moment, Hermione twisted her head around to look at him. He was gazing down at her as if wondering what to say. “Sorry,” she said a little guiltily, “I didn't mean to pry.”

“You're not prying.” He smiled, “I’m just not very good at opening up to people I don’t know terribly well.” She narrowed her eyes slightly, unsure how to take what he had just said. “I've learned to be careful over the years Hermione, that's no reflection on your character. I simply wouldn’t have survived if I hadn’t watched who I left myself open up to, but you're hardly a Death Eater are you?” He let out a breath and she turned onto her side to see him better, “I survived around them for years, you see, and it made me a bit... guarded. No, I’m not just doing it for the game. And nor is Draco. We talked about it the other night, we both want to give things a go. Maybe the game gave us a nudge, but it doesn't really feel like we're playing at anything. When we're together it's natural, it always has been. I think we’ll just use the game as a bit of fun and use the weekly prompts and see where they take us. ”

Hermione was surprised to feel a sharp pang of regret at his words. She turned her face back into the pillow as her bottom lip trembled, lest she lose control and embarrass herself by crying, it really had been a long day. “Am I in your way with that then?” She asked, trying to keep her voice level. Why did it hurt so much? They’d only had one evening together and one afternoon’s date in Hogsmeade for heaven's sake! 

“What?!” Theo sounded genuinely confused as he pulled her shirt straight and adjusted the hem, “why would you think that? Oh!” he paused, seemingly answering his own question. “No. You're not in the way at all. Left to our own devices, on our own in a relationship I think Draco and I would probably kill each other. And, anyway we both like girls  more than boys. We’ve both had three way encounters before, this is just the first time we’ve tried it as a relationship, although I realise that I’m getting ahead of myself here because I don’t know your intentions with this. Are you just in this for the game, or is there something more for you too?”

Hermione sighed, watching him as she considered her words. “Ginny initially talked me into playing the game because she was after Blaise, I had no interest in it at all. In fact, I’ll be honest, I thought it was a stupid idea, but then Friday evening came, I got a bit unnecessarily upset, Ron kicked my backside and I ended up actually talking to you and Draco. I found that I really enjoyed both of your company. And then last Saturday afternoon was lovely in Hogsmeade and now, I guess I feel the same as you, I’m curious. The sensible side of my mind keeps telling me that this is insanity, Draco and I have so much bad history together, I genuinely thought he hated me, but I’m seeing a different side of him now. You too, although I barely knew you before this. I’ll be honest, I was a little wary of you too, you have quite a reputation.” 

Theo stopped rubbing her back and she rolled over onto her side to look up at him. “I’m not sure whether to be proud of that or offended by it.” But he said it with a smile and moved to sit beside her, trailing a finger gently along her upper arm. He paused as the dormitory door opened and several people came in giggling and chatting loudly. “Muffliato.” Theo whispered and shuffled a little closer to her. “Is this unfiltered honesty a Gryffindor trait or is it a personal one? As for Draco’s feelings, it’s his story to tell of course but I can assure you he’s never hated you, even back when we were eleven years old and acting like we ruled the world. It was quite the opposite sentiment that caused his objectionable behaviour.” 

Hermione looked at him curiously and he placed a finger softly on her lips. “For any more on that you need to speak to Draco. It's not my place to tell.” She frowned petulantly but let it slide. “I could tell you my own thoughts though.”

It felt so natural to lean into him as he shifted position again, and somehow she found herself settled and laying next to him on the bed. He ran his hand down her lower arm and laced his fingers through hers, before running the tip of his thumb over her fingers. “It’s very simple, I like you. I see you as someone very different than me and I want to get to know you better.”

“Okay,” she used their joined hands to push her hair out of her eyes and turned to look at him properly. “That’s kind of how I feel about you too.”

He nodded. “Opposites attract huh?”

“Maybe.” She studied his face, his floppy, dark hair was easily as messy and un-styleable as Harry’s, his brilliant blue eyes felt like they were looking directly into her soul, and his olive skin was smooth and soft under her touch. She looked down at their clasped hands and saw the edge of a tattoo poking out from underneath his sleeve. Curiously she pushed his sleeve up and traced the design with her thumb before she froze, noticing that her fingers were travelling up the inside of his left forearm. 

“Relax,” he chuckled, “It’s not a Dark Mark, it’s just a black tat. Mind you Draco’s is so you might want to get your head around that if it bothers you.”

“Sorry.” 

“What for?” he frowned, making his cerulean eyes crinkle attractively at the corners. “I’d imagine it's a touchy subject for you.”

“It is. Can I see this?” he nodded and pushed his sleeve up to reveal the tail of a black snake that was entwined with flowers as it coiled its way up his lower arm. Just below his elbow she could see the bottom of what looked like the Hogwarts castle, and just above that was the bottom of something else that she couldn't quite make out. She inched his jumper a little higher but he closed his fingers over her hand.

“You’ll cut my circulation off. I could strip but we’ve already established our boundaries in that respect. That’s the bottom of a time turner and there’s a big clock at the top. It's all very symbolic, I’ll tell you what it all means someday.”

“It's amazing!” she stared in surprise at the details in the intricate design. 

“Hold your thumb on the snake's tail.”

“What? Why?” he said nothing more, just fixed her with a look and she did as he bid, snatching her fingers back when the tail flicked right across his arm and physically nudged at her. “Oh Wow! I didn't know tattoos could do that?”

“Some can. It depends who does them.” 

“Who did this?” 

“Blaise’s stepdad. The current one anyway, we spend quite a lot of time in Italy to escape whatever mayhem is going on in this country and everytime I go he adds a bit more to it. He’s teaching Blasie how to do it too but I'm not letting him loose on me just yet.” Hermione nodded. She was starting to feel a bit sleepy, the stress of her busy day and the worries about her upcoming homework deadlines had literally melted away at the touch of Theo’s hands. She yawned and he smiled. “Shall I leave you to sleep? It seems I’ve stolen your bath from you, I don’t want to take anything else.”

She nodded, an early night suddenly sounded exactly what she needed. “Okay,” he slid his fingers up onto her cheek and turned her face to his with a slow and sexy smile. She caught her breath as his tongue flicked out to moisten his lips and she smiled softly back, leaning in until their lips brushed. Their chaste control lasted for almost a whole two seconds before Theo pulled her closer, making her open her mouth in a gasp. Taking full advantage of her hesitancy he slipped his tongue in to claim her mouth. She made a small sound in the back of her throat as she sighed with pleasure. Kissing Theo was very different to kissing Draco. Both times she had kissed Draco he had let her take charge, Theo made it very plain that that wasn’t an option with him. There wasn’t a shadow of a doubt as to who was the  dominant one of the pair and the surprise of that caused a thrill of molten desire to flow through her, shocking her with it’s intensity. 

And it seemed she was more than happy to surrender all control to him. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, wrapping himself all around her. They were still facing each other on the bed and he hooked a leg over hers, tangling their limbs together as he kissed her face and her neck, then peppered kisses higher and nipped at her earlobe with his teeth. When he kissed her again, time seemed to stop. She let him surround her, whimpering as his stubble brushed against her soft skin. His hot tongue swept across hers, and she inhaled the scent of his cologne mixed with the natural musk of his body. The sound of his breathing blended with her own pulse pounding in her ears and it was an intoxicating mix. When he finally pulled back, her eyes were closed and she instinctively reached for him again as he kissed the very tip of her nose. “Good night Hermione,” he whispered, slipping out through the gap in her curtains with a smile that nearly stopped her heart.

“Night, Theo,” she whispered back, settling down under the duvet that smelled divinely of him, closing her eyes with a deep sigh and falling fast asleep. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have also just noticed that I'm still adding chapters to the original part of this story which should have just been a 1000 word drabble and is linked to a facebook groups drabble prompt series..... oooops! I'm going to upload the next chapter as a new, linked story and carry on from there, it should be easy to follow, just look for the box where it says something like "this work is part of a series," just click on the button that says read next part. Sorry about that, and thank you again!


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